


Watch Me Surrender

by adrift_me



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Gravebone implied only, Imperius, M/M, Mind Control, Non-Consensual Touching, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 20:39:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10226867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrift_me/pseuds/adrift_me
Summary: A hunter’s eye was watching and memorizing his every movement, his quirks and his speech. Second by second, his identity was being stolen and he was a willing victim to someone’s thievery.A take on how Grindelwald took over Graves' life.





	

**Author's Note:**

> After discussing some Grindelgrave ideas with my awesome friend [Marion](gravesfrommacusa.tumblr.com), I came up with this. 
> 
> Follow me on [tumblr](http://accio-toffy.tumblr.com/), I am still eagerly taking your prompts!  
> 

“ _Avada Kedavra!_ ”

The last auror froze in the air, his eyes going blank and lifeless, and fell on the ground with a dull thump. A man who most certainly didn’t fire the killing curse stared down at the corpse, touching it with the tip of his shoe.

A man who _did_ stood nearby in the shadows, watching.

He saw the triumph on Grindelwald’s face, he could almost hear his heart, beating excitedly in the ribcage. To him these men were nothing but a joke, pawns in a great game of minds and power that they had no say in. Their lifeless bodies, wrapped in black coats, made them look prepared for death, when they marched as warriors against the champions.

“A waste,” the dark wizard said loud enough for Graves to hear him. Soft shuffling over wet grass was the only other sound hanging in the air, apart from their quiet voices. Grindelwalds wand was trained on Graves in a pre-attacking move. He walked on defensively and openly.

“Not a waste -a necessity. I detest squandering the powerful, but for the greater good a sacrifice must be made,” said the auror, approaching the line of dead bodies. Grindelwald lowered the wand and now the two of them, shoulder to shoulder, were looking down with mild curiousity and abstraction.

“I’m glad you arrived, Percival. Last time we met I was certain I will not see you again, but your letters have convinced me otherwise,” the wizard turned to offer his hand to Graves. The auror shook it with friendly intensity and smiled.

“I was eager to arrive and I’m pleased to see you as well, Gellert.”

Grindelwald gestured for the auror to follow him and together they walked towards a mansion which seemed dead in the night. Graves felt thankful for his own choice of clothes, as it kept him from shivering in the cold of English weather. The two men entered the house and a whiff of blood reached Percival’s nose. He lit his wand and it revealed several dead bodies on the floor, lying at unnatural angles and bleeding heavily.

“Was it necessary? Magic can grant cleaner death,” asked Graves. Grindelwald chuckled in response.

“Is it not obvious what I’m trying to do?”

“It is. Implicating the no-majs in any way possible.”

“Indeed, and more. I’m hiding our tracks.”

As soon as they entered a luxurious living room, Graves put out the light of his wand and turned to look at the dark wizard. The moon remained their only light source and witness to what conversation took place.

“I hope you realise you are not returning to the States for a while, if at all.”

“I know,” Graves said quietly, running his hand through his dark hair. His voice trembled. “But you are.”

“As planned.”

“I have arranged for your arrival. My apartment, my connections… I will tell you everything you need to know,” Graves pulled his wand out and rubbed its tip a little. The wand sparkled in the dark, lighting up their serious faces. Golden tint of the sparks reflected on Grindelwald’s platinum hair and smoothed his fine face features.

“Don’t be an obedient pet, Percival, you are so much more than that. We may not be equals, but I agree to talk to you as one.”

Grindelwald ran his index finger along Graves’ jawline. The auror blinked rapidly, turning his head away and blushing hard when the dark wizard laughed lowly.

“Well, aren’t you delightful, Graves! But let us proceed. Tell me, is there anyone in particular that I should be aware of?” the wand was taken out of Graves’ hand and swished in the air a little. Grindelwald looked pleased as he slid it in his pocket.

“A few people. In my position it’s hard to avoid knowing the big shots. I am one myself…”

Graves paused and exhaled thoughtfully.

“The President is easy to deceive, and so is most of the department, but Miss Tina Goldstein… I have lowered her position in MACUSA, for her own sake and for yours, but she is a strong willed girl and she will fight back. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“Noted,” Grindelwald’s expression changed from smirking to teasing. “But you are so caring, Percival! I can only hope to be able to give the same impression.”

Graves swallowed. _Impression._ The auror felt like an animal in a zoo, observed, studied. A hunter’s eye was watching and memorizing his every movement, his quirks and his speech. Second by second, his identity was being stolen and he was a willing victim to someone’s thievery. Not only his being, but everything, everyone he cherished was exposed bright and clear.

“Is that all? No one special to look out for?”

Graves felt a wave of hatred over himself. He wondered how obvious he was, how easy it was to read his face and see that he did care about someone. Perhaps, not enough to protect them from being dragged in a war.

“There is someone else. You will hear about him as soon as you arrive. Oh he shouldn’t be involved…”

Graves rubbed his sweaty forehead and once more ran his fingers through the hair. He tugged at them a little and then waved his hand in the air, another hand on his hip. Somehow he felt his actions weren’t his own anymore. A taste of fear pulled at his insides and he wondered if at some point of his life he fell victim to dark powerful magic. But words spilled out.

“I promised to get him out of his abusive family. Teach him magic. He has a great potential, magic is bursting out of him, Gellert, but he can’t control it yet. I promised to help, and I will once our mission is done. You look after him, will you.”

“You are being vague. What is his name then?”

“Credence Barebone. I left files in my office, anything you need to know. I slowly informed him about the child, he will help you locate them. He is a very special young man.”

Grindelwald glanced up and down the man and grinned even wider.

“My my, what an inspiring attachment! You do understand, my friend, that in order to keep my appearance up I will have to continue this gentle relationship?”

“I am well aware. It’s for the greater good. Credence doesn’t have to know if we succeed. And if we do succeed, he will not have to hide who he is.”

Graves wondered if he was doing this for him. Not for the many wizards who had to hide in shadows, to lie beneath the no-majs’ feet and suppress what they were. Not for the sake of dominance of the most fitting to survive, but for granting the survival to the one who deserves it more.

The auror felt confused, his words and his feelings didn’t walk the same line. He furrowed his brows, but was immediately distracted by Grindelwald’s grip on his forearm.

“Well, I take your word for it, Percival,” Gellert looked at the auror and then inquired with a smirk. “Am I to embrace him? To kiss him? To--”

“No. Nothing of this. Simply be there. Oh come now, Gellert, you know me well enough. I left a bottle of extracted memories in my office, I am not a novice.”

_He did?_

“And I do not accuse you of being one. Now, this,” he touched Graves’ coat collar with his finger impatiently. The auror complied, sliding it off his wide shoulders and carefully transferring it in Grindelwald’s hands. He then proceeded to unbutton his shirt, detach gemmed scorpion pins, remove his trousers and shoes. He felt bare without a wand and his clothes for it was as much his personality as his own face was. And even that was about to be given away willingly.

Gellert pulled his own wand out, long and with a strange bead-like structure, and began performing air gestures mere inches away from his face. He stared directly at Graves as he did so, and with every second Graves’ face was reflected on Grindelwald’s. His battle earned scars, his workaholic tired eyes, his fashionably cut hair, his whole being was now standing in front of him. A terrifying life version of a mirror, moving and talking out of sync.

“Dress, my friend. I have taken what I need,” he began changing into clothes that Graves had given up, while Percival slipped into what he brought in his small charmed bag. Soon both men, two eerie copies, were dressed and standing in front of each other like a bizarre pair of twins.

“Here is where you will wait for further instructions. It’s a safe place. No one will find you there,” Grindelwald conjured up a small piece of paper with directions inked on it. Graves was awestruck as he watched the wizard’s mouth, terrified of hearing his own voice coming out of those lips. He cleared his throat and plucked the parchment piece out of air, looking at it briefly. Grindelwald stared in his eyes intently and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. A gesture so terrifyingly familiar.

“Farewell then. I see no point in fiddling about.”

“Gellert, wait,” Graves called after the wizard whose hand slid off his shoulder and who was taking a step backwards. The auror’s expression was set in inquiry. “Look after the boy. Keep him safe, I trust you with it.”

A pause hung in the air, the kind of pause that chills blood and makes your brain reverse to said words, to search for a mistake made, because a mistake becomes evident. Feverish, almost sick, Graves pulled at his own phrases in search of a trap that he missed so short-sightedly. Grindelwald smirked yet again, an invisible slap across his opponent’s face.

He stepped closer to Graves, and suddenly a weight he wasn’t aware of fell off Percival’s chest. His fogged mind cleared and whatever was clenching his heart - loosened. Grindelwald sneered in his face, _his own face_ did it and Graves stared back, appalled.

“Do you trust your own face that says that I will?”

Grindelwald smiled and with the Imperius curse gone Graves felt cold chills running down his spine. He never knew his face could be less pleasant and believable, even though he stared at it daily in the mirror for dozens of years. A swarm of terrible thoughts ripped through Graves’ mind, conjuring up the worst outcomes of what he had brought on himself and his country. He suddenly felt helpless, foolish and fooled. As he gasped and reached out to grab Grindelwald’s arm, the wizard turned on the spot and disappeared in a dark cloud of apparition, leaving the auror dropped to his knees and sobbing. The piece of parchment burnt in his clenched fist and as he opened his hand, fiery ashes flew down in a frightening waltz of surrender.

 


End file.
